Student Guide Corner

Need another reason to use those ubiquitous iPods in class? Scroll down to read this middle school math teacher's description of how she used iPods in her math class in a blog post entitled, "Plugged in Students." When the lesson was completed, she asked her students what they thought of it and their responses attest to the success of the assignment. This one speaks volumes: Here is the best quote and an insight into my reluctant learners: "I don't really like to learn but this was fun." A vital part of the success was the students' ability to control how they received the information. Those who needed repetition could review the video as often as needed. The teacher spoke about how there was silence during the lesson (the first time all year) because these kids were ENGAGED ! The applications across all content areas are unlimited. The point is that students were engaged and in control of their own learning - they could set the pace that worked bes...

You may have noticed the dearth of posts lately. I'll try to make up for that with this post, Ten Tips for Tuesday. Dave Edyburn's annual round-up of the best Special Education Technology Literature (What Have We Learned Lately) is worth a read. Check it out. We all benefit from his work. Thank you, Dave! The need to equip and empower our struggling learners has never been more critical. Fortunately, the availability of tools and strategies makes this easier than ever. If you haven't already read it, read, Toolbelt Theory for Everyone, by Ira Socol to understand the urgency of empowering every student for success. Tools matter. Now that you understand the importance of offering tools to your students with learning challenges, head over to the UDL Tech Toolkit Wik i. It's constantly updated and links to a number of free tools that improve access to the curriculum and remove the obstacles to learning. If Glogster is blocked in your school, you can navigate to the cat...

On Saturday, my son and I were watching the G4 TV shows he DVR'd about the Consumer Electronics Show held in Las Vegas last week. One of the segments questioned what the viewers believed would be the first thing to become obsolete. The list included: 1. Gas-powered cars 2. Desk-top computers 3. Landlines 4. DVDs Well, that got me thinking about what will be the first thing to become obsolete in the classroom ? Here is my list. What do you think? 1. Whiteboards 2. Paper 3. Textbooks 4. Overhead Projectors 5. The six hour school day Photo credit - http://www.flickr.com/photos/thefrankfurtschool/252074409/

When I was in grad school, one of my professors, Richard Wanderman , an adult with learning disabilities, brought up the concept of "mistake tolerant" in the classroom. He specifically spoke about mistake tolerant vs. mistake intolerant materials and described clay as mistake tolerant (you don't like what you've created, you slab it back on the wheel and start again). Conversely, sculpting with stone is an example of a mistake intolerant medium (you make mistakes and may ultimately end up with a small pebble). Look around your classroom. Are you paper/pencil dependent? Do your students sometimes erase so much or so hard that there are holes in their paper? Mistake intolerant . Do you offer students multiple ways to demonstrate what they know using tools other than paper/pencil? For example, if they are required to write a book report, do you allow them to use a word processor or use multimedia to express their thoughts in more creative ways? Mistake tolerant . Don...

You've heard about Twitter but still wonder, "What's the point? Why do I care what others are doing?" This Twitter Love Song explains the point better than I ever could. Twitter provides instant access to the collective wisdom of my professional learning network. I never leave home without it. Thanks to Angela Maiers, a member of my PLN for sharing this Youtube video. Her post shares additional Twitter resources that you may want to explore.

It's not often you come across a teacher like Lisa Parisi. Lisa co-teaches in an inclusion classroom where there is no distinction between regular education and special education kids. Kids are valued without labels. And success happens here. Lisa's most recent blog post, " A Perfect Storm? " details what successful co-teaching in an inclusive classroom looks like. There are four components: 1. A shared philosophy 2. Universal Design for Learning embedded throughout the curriculum 3. Project Based Learning 4. A belief that children work better in small groups Additional factors that promote success: We both work very hard to make our classroom engaging, fun, and supportive. We spend a great deal of time teaching the children acceptance and respect for each other. We both are capable of showing our students that we are learners, too, and as such, have our own struggles to overcome. We both believe in telling children the truth. We want them to understand their strugg...

Struggling readers miss out on a great deal. They miss out on opportunities to: 1. Imagine 2. Increase their vocabulary 3. Explore new worlds 4. Expand their knowledge 6. Develop a love for reading That's a lot to give up. And research suggests that students who miss out on reading are adversely impacted across all curriculum areas. Enter Story Nory , free audio stories for kids, captivatingly read by Natasha . Every week a new story is added, available at the website. From the site: Listening to audio stories helps develop attention and imagination. It stimulates a love of words and books. But above all, it's superb form of entertainment. The quality is excellent, engaging and enchanting. Add it to your iGoogle home page, subscribe using your typical reader. Or, go to the iTunes store, click Podcasts > Kids and Family > Story Nory and then click subscribe so you never miss a new addition. Check it out. Your kids will thank you.